Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Two Public Hearings...

First, is aproposed stormwater drainage district for Longworth Acres, primarily owned by William Virkler and Richard C. Wilson. This agreement would have the Town of New Hartford responsible for all stormwater maintenance within the district with the cost of said maintenance being borne by the property owners within the district in the form of a Special District tax.

Second, is a NO PARKING FROM HERE TO CORNER sign that is to be placed on the west side of Oneida Street. The problem is that the legal notice is ambiguous and does not fully explain just where the sign is to be placed and no one on the town board or the Police Chief had anything to offer to clarify where the sign might be located.

We sent a FOIL request to the Town Clerk to try to clarify where this might be located:

I would like to FOIL from all town board members (to include the Town Supervisor), the Town Highway Superintendent and the Police Chief any correspondence, emails, phone records, or anything that exists regarding the need for NO PARKING signs on the west side of Oneida Street in reference to the need for Local Law Introductory "D" of 2008 to amend the Code of the Town of New Hartford, Chapter 113 entitled VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC by adding a portion of Oneida Street to Section 113-45. Schedule XI: Parking Prohibited at All Times.

The response from the town clerk: The Police Chief, the Highway Superintendent and Board members have no records.

Amazing, the town board is considering the creation of a town law and there is nothing on record to substantiate the need.

The legal notice says "from the pole in front of 3871 Oneida Street to the corner of the northerly edge of the entrance driveway into Garden Homes Mobile Home Park". However, no mention is made as to which driveway they are talking about. There are two entrances to the park and both entrances would have a northerly edge. Depending on what driveway they are talking about, different properties are involved. The town clerk said she was unaware that there were two entrances.

The town says they meant the NORTH driveway which would be the first driveway as you are heading South; there is a big difference between the NORTH driveway and the northerly edge of a driveway when there are two (2) entrances.

Since in this instance the legal notice is the only notification for those that might be affected by the new law, it should be very specific. No notices are sent to the affected residents as would be the case of a zoning change. The fact that the Town Board, Police Chief and the Highway Superintendent were unable or unwilling to give any specifics regarding the need for this law is unbelievable! Proposing this law was done like everything else done by this town board...in haste and without thought!